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Sports
Fourth trip garners state medal : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisFourth trip garners state medal
| Parlier advances to finals, places 11th in 200-yard IM
| by Christine Bolin Dascher
| 2/28/2013
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Senior Pierce Parlier has enjoyed a highly successful career with the Oswego-Oswego East boys' swimming and diving team.
All four years on varsity, he has qualified for the state tournament.
This past weekend was Parlier's final appearance at state at New Trier in Winnetka. He ended up being the only swimmer from the program to advance to the second day of competition. He finished 11th overall in the 200-yard individual medley in 1:55.56. On Friday his time was 1:55.18 (11th place).
"He's had an awesome career," Oswego-Oswego East head coach Deryl Leubner said of Parlier. "He's been a state qualifier every year, and that's incredibly hard to do. To maintain that and to not have any hiccups along the way is difficult. He should be really proud because he had a great career here."
Parlier also qualified for state in the 100-yard backstroke, but his time of 51.78 (16th place) on Friday did not make the top 12 on Friday to advance into Saturday's finals.
"I wasn't disappointed as much as I was surprised," Parlier said. "There were so many good backstroke times. People appeared. I even dropped time."
"It was fast," Leubner added. "He was (in seventh place with a 52.06 in the state) last year, so this year's meet got really fast. At this level of swimming, you go by time, and that's all you can control."
Parlier was also a part of the 200-yard freestyle relay team with senior Bucky Coonradt, sophomore Quinn Parlier and senior Andrew Carlson who finished in 21st place in 1:27.88 on Friday.
"The relay was wide open," Leubner said. "We were right there, but we needed to close it out."
Coonradt also qualified as an individual in the 100-yard butterfly. He finished in 24th on Friday with a time of 52.2. He also went 46th overall in 1:00.95 in the 100-yard breaststroke.
"He competed really hard, but faded a bit at the end," Leubner said. "It was a long day at that point (after the 100 breaststroke)."
Thoreson made his first and final appearance at state in the 500-yard freestyle and ended up in 27th in 4:48.7.
"It's a hard race - it's a difficult, difficult race, but it was a good accomplishment for him," Leubner said.
Quinn Parlier made his debut at state by placing 33rd in the 100-yard freestyle in 48.21 on Friday.
"Quinn did a great job," Leubner said. "It's hard to come into the state meet for the first time. With him, it was about getting there, and everything after that was a bonus."
Powerhouse New Trier ended up winning the state title with 173 points. Hinsdale Central was next at 96, followed by Lake Forest's 93.
Oswego capped another successful season. The team ended up winning the Independent Conference meet, placed seventh at the Neuqua Valley Sectional and had an accomplished group of seniors representing the program all year long.
"This season was important for the seniors and not having any letdowns along the way," Leubner said. "Conference was really tight, and we knew it was going to be. It was important to them to have their last hurrah, so it was a great year, a fun year. The guys are incredibly close."
"The thing I'll remember the most is all the fun I had with all my teammates," Parlier added. "They were really great guys who were all funny. The swimming was almost secondary to the fact that I had so much fun with the guys."
Next year might be considered a rebuilding year for the program, but it all depends on the progression in the off-season.
"Everything in swimming comes down to what they can do in the off-season," Leubner said. "We had a great group of freshmen, and if they commit to off-season work, we'll be right back where we are in a year. If they don't, they are going to have a lot of work to do for a couple of years. It comes down to repetition, getting the training in and making improvements the other nine months. You don't become a successful swimming team in the three months of the high school season. The ball is in their court. We have a lot of young guys, and they will determine they type of team they want to have."
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